SF Cleanup Shows Signs of Success

Police Chief: "We're Not Going to Go Away"

SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS Radio) -- A monthlong effort to improve the street scene in and around United Nations Plaza appears to have made a difference.

"I'm just so shocked at how clean the streets are," said Cynthia Alvarez, whose daily commute includes a walk through the area to an office near Market Street.

The area has been the focus of a police crackdown since mid-September, when Police Chief Bill Scott deployed a mobile command center to the plaza and issued orders to crack down on crime there and in the nearby Tenderloin, Civic Center and South of Market areas.

Scott says his officers have been busy. According to Scott, more than 150 arrests were made in the UN Plaza area in the last week, 52 of them related to drug crimes.

And Scott promised to keep up the presence. "People that are standing in the shadows trying to wait us out...we're not going to go away," Scott said.